Over the past 100 years, Jewish cuisine has evolved greatly from the traditional cooking of our great-grandmothers.
recent issues JN It got me thinking about one of my favorite topics: holiday food. (Well, I guess we don’t need holidays to think about and eat delicious food). In recent weeks, new food writer Joel Abramowitz has provided recipes and insight into what she calls “the Super Bowl of the Jewish food calendar.”
Joel shared some recipes for appetizers in the March 28th issue, and some recipes for the main event, the Passover meal, in the April 4th issue. She shared recipes for interesting and innovative food combinations such as tortilla española, crispy chicken with lemon and potatoes and oregano, and corned beef with brown sugar glaze. Mmm, hmmm, hmmm! This week she tackles desserts.
Reading Joel’s article got me thinking about a Passover recipe I discovered in William Davidson’s Detroit Jewish History Digital Archive. First, if you’re interested in expanding your Jewish cooking repertoire, look no further than Davidson’s archives. Over 9,000 recipes have been saved, many for Purim, Rosh Hashanah, and other holidays. I found 240 pages dedicated to “Passover Recipes.” It also quickly became clear that over the past 100 years, Jewish cuisine had evolved significantly from the traditional cooking of our great-grandmothers.
The first recipe in the archive was published on April 11, 1916. Detroit Jewish Chronicle. These are very simple instructions on how to make almond cake, matzotto chalet, charoses, and almond pudding. For example, the recipe for almond cake is just two sentences long, with no exact measurements of the ingredients (“an egg or two” and “enough cinnamon to give it a strong flavor”). See also the Passover recipe dated April 6, 1928. chronicle In dishes such as fig pudding, scrambled mazotto, and mazotto pudding.Still rough, but a little more accurate.
Regarding the evolution of recipes, in an article dated March 28, 1952, JN explains that “the dietary changes in the Passover meal show how Jews are keeping pace.” The article states, “Although the Passover food we eat bears little or no resemblance to what our ancestors ate, the influence of traditional Passover recipes is still strong…” I am emphasizing that. This article includes two of his recipes provided by Manischewitz for his squares of fruit, his fladen, and his macaron sponge. Of course, it’s no surprise that many Manischewitz products are included in the recommended ingredients.
By the 1970s, readers were reading “Passover Recipes for Diet Watchers” (April 2, 1971, JN).I’m sorry, but I’ve always believed that dieting starts from day one. rear holiday! But don’t worry, there are diet recipes for staples like gefilte fish and Passover breakfast matzo pancakes.
In the 1990s, another culinary era gained prominence. For example, see “Eat a Seder Without Meat” (March 18, 1999). Yes, indeed, this was an article with vegetarian Passover recipes. Certainly, spring vegetable soup with matzo balls looks delicious.
And what about today’s Passover dinner? Perhaps Annabel Cohen’s article “Intimate Seders” will be a useful guide (March 26, 2020). She includes a recipe for “Red Pepper and Garlic Quinoa.” It looks very delicious, but I don’t think it’s the recipe that her great-grandmother passed down to your bubbie. And includes a simple savory brisket recipe. Traditional and modern seem to go well together.
Celebrate Passover and Summer Festival. Chag Pesach Samyach!
Want to know more? Visit the DJN Archive, available for free at thejewishnews.com.
